Releasing device for poultry-house doors.



C. S. McCOY.

RELEASING DEVICE FOR POULTRY HOUSE DOORS.

APPLICATION man 1AN.1a,1916.

119293,026. .Paented Oct. 31,1916.

WITNESS .a rectangular frame Ll to which a door o n nrc CHARLES S.`MCCY, F KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

RELEASING :DETJCE FOR POULTRY-HOUSE DOORS.

incense..

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Patented @et 31, 12H16.

Application filed January 18, 1916. Serial No. 72,701.

for poultry house doors and my object is to produce mechanism adaptedfor operation by a fowl. y

Another object is to produce an attachment of the character mentionedwhich can be manufactured and sold very cheaply.

1With these objects in view the invention consists in certain novel andpeculiar fea* tures of construction and organization as hereinafterdescribed and claimed; and in order that the invention maybe fullyunderstood reference is to be had to the accom panying drawing in which,y Figure l, is an interior view of the front wall of a poultryhouseequipped with mechanism embodying my invention. F ig. 94 is acentral vertical section taken on the line l-Il of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is aplan view of a part of a chicken house with the roof removed and with acertain part broken away to expose parts otherwise hidden in saidfigure. Fig. 4, is a fragmentary elevation to show the device arrangedfor operation by a fowl, suoli as a duck.

ln the said drawing, 1 indicates a poultry house of any suitable typeand provided preferably with a window :2 above the door opening 3.Secured preferably to the outer side of the house around the dooropening is f is hinged as at @,the arrangement being such that when thedoor is opened it lrests upon the ground as indicated by dotted lines`in llig. 2, and secured to the inner side of the door is a draw pull 7forming a handle by which the door may be conveniently closed frominside the house. s

8 is a shaft extending through the front wall of the house verticallyabove the door and said shaft is journaled in a pair `of bearingbrackets`9 and 10 respectively ses cured to the inner and outer sides of thewell, and secured upon the onter end of the shaft is an arm or button 1ladapted when occupying a vertically pendent position as shown in Fig.E2, to lock the door against opening movement, it being noted by refer-Ipoint on the poultry house.

ence to Figs. Q and 3 that springs 12 interposed betweenthe sideportions of frame i andthe door will tend to swing the door open theinstant the door is unlocked by the tripping of the arm or button.A y

In order to protect the outside of the operative parts from exposure tosnow or sleet, a shield 13 is secured to the outer side of the house andoverhangs the outer portion of the shaft and the door.

F or the purpose of preventing the tript ping of the door securing armor button through `pressure applied upon it by the paw or nose of ananimal, a substantially J-shaped guard 1d is pivotally suspended fromthe shield so that it will swing up against the door under the arm orbutton and thus protect the same from the animal. At the same time itwill readily swing aside to permit the door to open and can be readilyswung outwardly out of the way to permit the door to be closed.

Referring now to the mechanism for holding the door in closed positionand for rotating the shaft to opening position, 15 is a crank armmounted on the inner end of the' shaft and normally supported upon anangle bracket 16 secured to the front wall of the house. At the oppositeside of the pivot from said bracket the arm is pivotally connected by alink 17, to a lever 18 pivoted to an angle bracket 19, which ispivotally suspended from a bracket 2O secured to a lined point of thepoultry house. At its opposite end the lever is loosely hinged at 21 toa lever 22 hinged at 23 to another fixed n The link 17 is connected tolever 18 adjacent the window by preference. The lever members 18 and 22constitute a jointed lever so that one member thereof can move endwiseas the lever swings downward and thus impart direct endwise pressurethrough the link onto the crank arm 15.

The parts will be so proportioned and balanced that a fowl weighingabout a` pound and a half, when standing upon either of the leversadjacent the window will overcome the weight of thecrank arm l5 and thelocking' arm orbutton and the friction between the latter and the springpressed door, and swing said arms to the positions shown by dotted linesin Fig. 1,

the jointed ends of the levers of course as suming substantially theposition shown by dotted lines in the same figure. As this and lightupon the levers and effect the disposition of parts is effected, thedoor opens and remains in such position until opposite the window willapply suliicient weight to effect the unlocking of the door asexplained.

I have found that after the device has been in use for a day or two thewindow can be covered and the fowls will still iiy up opening of thedoor.

For use 1n a house for ducks and geese y which cannot ily up to levers18 and 22,

link 17 is disposed in a pendent position and lever 18 without thebrackets 19, is arranged 'in a slightly inclinedyposition with one endresting upon the ground. The ducks yor geese quickly learn that bystepping on this inclined lever the opening of the door is effected andthus .in a short time can be relied upon to let themselves out of thepoultry house.

The mechanism properly proportioned and preferably arrangedy as inFig.1, can

` be used in pigeon lofts and the pigeons soon learn that by alightingon the levers 18 and 22, the door will be opened yto permit them toleave the loft.

After the door is opened the crank arm 15 being relievedof the weight ofthe fowl or fowls returns the parts to the position shown by full linesFig. 1 and when it is desired to close the door the operator'will raisearm 15 and hold it elevated until he closes the door. The release of thearm will then result in its return to the positiony shown by full linesin Fig. 1. The device is then in position for operation in the morningby the fowl.

Fromfthe yabove description itwill be apparent that l have produced dooropening attachments embodying the features of advantage enumerated asdesirable in the statement of the object of the invention and which` aresusceptible of modification in minor particulars without departing Vfromthe principle and scope of fthey appended claims.

I claim :r

1. The combination with a poultry house having a door opening, a doorfor automatically opening when f not fastened in closed position, a rockshaft, an arm secured to the shaft and engaging the door to hold thesame closed, means for yieldingly holding the rock shaft with the saidarm in locking position, means for operation when weighted as when afowl is supported upon it, a connection for transmitting power from thefowl-operated means to the holding means to overcome the resistance ofthe lat-- ter and thereby rock the shaft until the locking arm istripped from engagement with the door, a shield or guard covering thefree edge of the door, the locking arm and the part of the shaft at theouter side of the house, and an extension pivotally suspended from theguard and adapted to prevent access to the locking arm and free to beswung aside by the door in the opening movement of the same.

2. The combination with a poultry house having a door opening, a doorfor automatically opening whennot fastened in closed position, a rockshaft extending through the wall of the house above the door opening, alocking arm secured to the out-er end of said shaft and a weighted armsecured to the inner end of said shaft and holding the locking armoverlapping the door at its outer side when the door is closed, meansfor supporting the weighted arm against accidental movement tending toswing the locking arm past locking position, a lever for actuation by afowl when perched upon it, and means for transmitting power from saidlever to said weighted arm to effect rotation of the shaft andwithdrawal of the locking arm from the path of opening movement of thedoor.

3. The combination with a poultry house having a door opening, a doorfor automatically uncovering said opening when unfastened, a rock shaft,a locking arm secured to the rock shaft and engaging the door to holdthe same closed, a weighted arm secured to the rock shaft within thehouse to hold the locking arm in locking position, a

jointed lever within the poultry house and yhinged at one endV to afixed point on the CHARLES S. MGCOY. Witnesses Gr. Y. THORPE, H. C.Ronenns.

Copiesy of this patent may be obtained for vc cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patentenk Washington, D. C.

